Review of Rocky Balboa (2006) by David H — 12 Jun 2010

It won't blow anybody away, but this is a really nice way to end the Rocky series (if this is INDEED the end). The film is, overall, paced a little too quickly to be truly resonant on an emotional level, yet in many spots it IS certainly affecting.

And even though I don't mind Rocky V, Rocky Balboa feels like the proper way to end the series. Performances are great (with Stallone once again demonstrating that he's hugely underrated as an actor), and Stallone's writing and directing are excellent.

While I mentionned before that the pace is a little too fast, I can't say that this story isn't, for the most part, efficiently told. Another quibble is that certain moments in the final fight are poorly edited (segments that are too impressionistic or stylistic), which takes away its climactic impact somewhat.

For my money, the best fight in the series remains the epic showdown between Rocky and Apollo in Rocky II (which featured one of the most nail-biting moment in the series when both Rocky and Apollo struggle to stand as the referee counts down).

There are no such moments in Rocky Balboa, but the film is still a nice little closer to a mostly wonderful series.